Уильям Макгиверн - Summitt

The entrance to Rockland was marked by stone columns topped by a rounded arch. On the face of this span, the school’s motto was carved in Roman capitals: THY COUNTRY IS THINE HONOR.

“That Earl boy was such a mean fucker, he got up early and stayed up late just to work at it.”

“Momma, don’t you talk that way,” her daughter called from the kitchen.

“Never you mind, Libby. Just study them books.”

Libby came to the door between the two rooms. She wore a blue blouse and a tartan skirt. Her black hair was pulled into side braids and tied with white ribbons.

“She’s busing now,” Emma Green told Selby, and smiled derisively at her daughter.

Libby was embarrassed. She frowned and put her hands on her hips. “You keep your mouth off me, momma. Miss Keener says that kind of talk is common. She says it’s how drunk women talk.”

“Listen to her, mister. She’s got little white friends and they go to their houses after school and cook things in the kitchen and make candy. They don’t think nothing of the mess, them white mommies.”

“You say his name when you asleep,” Libby said. She looked seriously at Selby. “I’m not lying, mister. She used to say his name out, call out near all of ’em that she had... that’s the truth.”

“You a sweet child, Libby, but it’s days long gone. Miss Keener, she’s your friend. You listen to her. I love you, baby.”

“You want something, you don’t fool me.”

“Just a touch, honey. It’s my day off.” Her voice was easy. “Don’t be mad. I used to be pretty like you.” She smiled at Selby, but hard defensive lines had formed around her mouth.

Libby went into the kitchen and brought back a pint of gin and a glass half-filled with water. “You sweet, you really are,” her mother said, and smoothed the child’s hair.

Emma Green was only an inch or so above five feet with wide hips and large, firmly molded breasts. Her lips were full and handsome, even with the scar that pulled the mouth up into an expression of sly skeptical anger. Her skin was clear and smooth, and Selby could easily imagine how pretty she must have been.

Libby closed the door. Emma Green poured a little gin into the glass and sipped from it. “I do the check-out at Safeway market all week so a little drink on my day off don’t hurt. I surely am sorry for your kid, mister, but I ain’t writin’ nothing down about what they done to me.

“They showed me I was still a nigger wench, that’s what they did. Never mind Martin and JFK and that shit people got so excited about. I believed it, too, I guess.” She covered her mouth and laughed, “ ‘I do believe...’ Thought black was beautiful, the colleges and good jobs and everything gonna bust wide open for us. You honky bastards shouldn’t lie and fool us, ’cause we’re so damned dumb...” She laughed and tapped her forehead. “—solid bone up here, solid ivory from Africa. What’s the fun of it? But I was pretty and had me a nice-sounding laugh, if I say so myself. Low and easy, not like some dumb-ass darky screeching and showin’ off. I could show you pictures of me laughing. You’d see how it was. How people liked to hear me laugh.”

She sipped the gin and water. “I worked at a bar over near the college. The bar was named The Letter Drop. We was off limits, the soldier boys, they’d sneak in at night and go upstairs with the gals.

“The name Letter Drop, you see, was a joke. Let ’er drop... see? Get out of them drawers, boy. Earl, he was a boss man, the others minded him ’cause he could be wild and mean, see. One night a new soldier boy came for the first time. They called him AC-DC, he didn’t want to go upstairs with any of us. They got on him, Earl mostly, yelling and teasing him. They was a kind of bet with him and Earl. They made him go up with me, ’cause they said I was the prettiest and laughed the most and if he couldn’t make it with me, he’d better start looking for somethin’ scusin’ gash.”

Shielding her mouth, Emma Green drank again and ran her tongue around her lips. “But the soldier boy couldn’t do it. He got undressed and I could tell he was scared. It was all shriveled up, hiding from me. I was mad at first, I was so pretty, and I was clean, so what was he afraid of? What’d he come upstairs for anyway? I started touching him, rubbing him nice, but nothing could make that little thing of his stand up and look around. He was a nice built boy, too, strong and brown, kind of. He started crying when I told him we better go downstairs. I was still working see, and needed some more tricks, but he begged me not to. He was kind of nice. Said it wasn’t because I was colored or anything. I felt good about him saying that, so I asked if there was anything he wanted me to do. Something he was ashamed to tell me... but he said no and went on crying, saying he couldn’t do it with girls. They was calling him AC-DC, Ace for short, because they thought he could go two ways, but he couldn’t go no way with me... I told him to shush crying. We’d dunce Earl. I told him to start laughing and pretending like we was carrying on. So that’s what we did. Drank some wine and I started shrieking and making goosey noises and giggles. I’m calling him sweet names and moaning like he was driving me wild. We was standing close to the door so they’d hear us downstairs. I yelled — ‘slow down, boy, you’re passing my heart .’ And I called out real loud, ‘My, my, you so big, you could lean over and give your own self a blow job, honey.’ ”

Emma Green sighed and drank some gin. “Didn’t mean no harm, mister, just thought to help the kid. He was payin’ good money. When we went down to the bar, well, lordy, they treated that hombre like a hero, pounding him on the back and buying him beers. Everybody was happy but Earl, ’cause he didn’t like us fussing over AC-DC and having to pay off the bet.”

The church bells sounded again. The small room was quiet. Small white paper napkins were spread on the arms and headrests of chairs. The tables and windowsills were clean and shiny with furniture polish; a lemon fragrance mingled with the tart, wild berry smell of the watered gin.

“All this busin’ gonna lead to heartbreak, you watch.” Emma Green’s eyes were sad. She drank again, but didn’t bother covering her mouth. She put the glass down and let her hands rest palms up in her lap, a weary gesture that reminded him of Lori Gideen.

“I thought nothing bad could happen to me because I was pretty. Men would just about die to get me in bed. They couldn’t get enough of me. My waist was so tiny, they could put their hands all the way around it. I got pictures I could show you, mister, but it don’t matter no more.”

Sighing, she picked up her glass. “I’ll tell you about Earl, and that fucker from over in Pennsylvania, a cop, Slocum, his name was. But I ain’t writing it down or signing it, see. One of the other girls heard me and that little ole AC-DC cadet talking about foolin’ Earl. Girl called Rocio, she was part Mex. Heard us goin’ on about pretending to screw up a storm. She told Earl. Don’t know why. She’s dead now, poor baby, got a cold and died of it. So one night a couple days later, I was walking home and it was dark. I lived with my daddy and he helped out with Libby. Earl stopped me in a car, almost ran me down. He had some of the other soldier boys with him. They pulled me into the car and Earl told me he knew about what me and the queer had done. I tried to pretend it was a joke, but Earl was in a crazy mood, said nobody could make a fool of him. Driving through the dark with them soldier boys holding me, I thought all right, gal, you gotta take your whippin’. You asked for it, you gonna get it. They drove me to an old place with a basement. Couldn’t see too clear ’cause the only light was little bitty candles in bottles. They had that boy down there, three of them holding him down on a mattress. He was buck naked, all little goose pimples, and crying. The soldier boys was teasing him. They hollered when Earl brought me in. He made me take my clothes off and get on top of the boy. I could feel how scared he was. Then they rolled him on top of me and pulled my legs open. I don’t know how long it went on, they shouting he’d better fuck me if he knew what was good for him.